Brick (2005)

Overall Rating From 1 to 100: 57

Directed by Rian Johnson
Joseph Gordon-Levitt / Emilie de Ravin / Lukas Haas
110 min. Crime / Drama
MPAA: R (for violent and drug content)

Review by Jason Pyles / April 2, 2007

The opening scene of “Brick” is an excellent curtain raiser: a dead girl lies in shallow water outside a tunnel while a young man stares at her corpse in disbelief.

This is the way to begin a movie. Unfortunately, writer and director Rian Johnson didn’t know how to maintain this same level of intrigue. He loses this momentum by alienating us, the viewers, with incomprehensible, slang-filled dialogue.

“Brick” seems to be a detective story or a murder mystery. And it is. But more impressively, “Brick” is also an effective illustration of a human phenomenon: the way people always think that their own troubles are greater than everyone else’s troubles.

Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is an unlikely protagonist. In this role, he physically resembles Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) but with longer hair. Perhaps because he doesn’t look too tough, we don’t expect much from Brendan. But this kid is surprisingly capable of unpleasant acts. And we can tell right away that he’s not as harmless as he seems.

Brendan’s old flame, Emily (Emilie de Ravin — better known as “Claire” from TV’s “L O S T”), is in serious trouble with a highly organized, high school drug ring. And it’s no secret, from the movie’s beginning, that she is already dead. Through flashbacks, “Brick” shows us Brendan’s painful infiltration into this drug gang to investigate his ex-girlfriend’s murder.

This is a great premise for a movie. But “Brick” cheats by amplifying its characters’ mystical qualities to the point that we cannot believe that a bunch of high school kids could be so slick, so intelligent and so collected. I mean, these punks have the composure of Don Vito Corleone. Their actions are a little too confident and too deliberate for the magnitude of the matters that they’re dealing with.

But despite its super teens and its unintelligible dialogue (which is my biggest gripe), “Brick” is well made and has much to admire. The photography evokes its January setting, shot primarily in grays and blues. And a masterful scene involving a violent brawl that’s happening just upstairs on the floor above approaches Hitchcockian talent when it comes to suspense.

The two best, most intriguing characters are “The Pin,” a young, powerful drug lord played by Lukas Haas and The Pin’s mom, played by Reedy Gibbs. His power is so tangible that when he’s onscreen, we try to figure out its source. His friendly mother (apparently clueless when it comes to her son’s dope enterprise) offers The Pin’s druggie friends fresh glasses of O.J. and big smiles. This naive, idiot-parent role hearkens back to those in “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955).

Speaking of characters, the movie’s original music by Nathan Johnson plays as significant a role as the actors. If you decide to watch “Brick,” notice that the musical score is essential to the film’s tone.

“Brick” is rated R, but I might have suggested PG-13. There is hardly any profanity and no sex or nudity. There is drug paraphernalia and violence — with one semi-graphic shooting.

“Brick” is an OK movie, albeit inaccessible. If it had subtitles (in English), then Rian Johnson might have had a great film.

O Masterpiece (95-100)
O Excellent (75-94)
O Good video rental (60-74)
X Merely OK (50-59)
O Pure mediocrity (30-49)
O Medusa: don’t watch (1-29)

Copyright 2007.
JP0046 : 525